Justice Department subpoenas former officials to a Florida grand jury over alleged anti-Trump conspiracy
The Justice Department is demanding testimony before a Florida grand jury from former government officials, the Associated Press reported on September 8, 2026, in a year-long investigation into whether intelligence officials conspired against President Trump.
What happened
- The Associated Press reports that the new subpoenas to former government officials are an effort to lock down sworn testimony, after numerous voluntary interviews in the year-long investigation.
- Investigators told some witnesses' defense lawyers in recent days that grand jury subpoenas were coming.
- How many witnesses had received a subpoena, and who they were, was not clear Tuesday.
- Investigations by an inspector general and by Justice Department prosecutors found errors by agents in the Russia inquiry but no evidence of an anti-Trump conspiracy.
What the Justice Department says
- The department is pursuing what the Associated Press calls a loosely defined theory that intelligence officials who scrutinized Trump over the last decade, including over Russian interference in the 2016 election, conspired against him and violated his rights.
Pushback
- Lawyers for John Brennan, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, say they were told he is a target over whether he falsely testified to Congress.
- Brennan and his attorneys have consistently denied that he falsely testified to Congress.
Why it matters
A grand jury subpoena is not a request. The Justice Department is using them to lock down sworn testimony from former officials who scrutinized the president, in Fort Pierce, Florida, the home court of Judge Aileen Cannon, without having named a crime. Brennan's lawyers say he is already a target.